Tech guru Lowe back in the fast lane

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Paddy Lowe will join Ross Brawn at the Mercedes Formula One team in June.

Story highlights

Paddy Lowe cleared to join Mercedes from McLaren on June 3

Lowe to work alongside team principal Ross Brawn as executive director (technical)

Williams deputy team principal says finances more important than race result

Claire Williams also describes Valtteri Bottas as a future world champion

After four months on the scrapheap Paddy Lowe will be back in the fast lane in June after his switch from McLaren to Formula One rival Mercedes was confirmed.

Lowe was recruited by Mercedes in January only for McLaren to remove him from his role as technical director and insist he sees out his contract, which was set to expire at the end of the current season.

It was originally thought Lowe would replace current Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, but he will now work alongside his fellow Briton as "executive director (technical)" from June 3.

"I am excited to become part of a highly talented and capable technical organization," said Lowe, who follows 2008 world championship-winning driver Lewis Hamilton in swapping McLaren for Mercedes, in a statement.

Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – There have been protests against Formula One's arrival in Bahrain as the race returned in 2013. Some protesters, pictured here on April 16, wanted F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone to cancel the race.

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt both attended the race in 2012 when it returned to the calendar after it was called off in 2011 because of civil unrest -- but this time only Ecclestone attended the grand prix.

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – Sebastian Vettel won the 2013 race for Red Bull as he went 10 points clear in the championship standings.

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – Vettel also won last year's race as the German went on to wrap up a third successive world title.

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – The Sakhir circuit was constructed in the desert outside the capital of Manama which means sand often blows across the track -- those conditions can be hard work for Formula One's engines and tires

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – The imposing Sakhir Tower looms over the cars as they race on the Bahrain International Circuit.

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Photos:F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – Nico Rosberg was fastest in Saturday qualifying to claim the second pole position of his career, and Mercedes' second in a row after Lewis Hamilton was quickest in Shanghai.

F1 makes uncertain Bahrain return – Inside the Formula One paddock, and away from the protests, the teams and drivers got on with business as usual. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa spoke to the press on Thursday as a two-time winner in Bahrain.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Looking to Lewis – After 15 years with McLaren, Lewis Hamilton has flown the nest and landed in the Mercedes garage. The 2008 world champion is being tipped for success in 2013, with his new teammate Nico Rosberg showing in preseason that the new Mercedes is capable of topping the timesheets.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

To the four? – But if Hamilton is to win a second drivers' championship, he will have to overcome triple world champion Sebastian Vettel. The German has taken the title in each of the last three years, with his Red Bull team also leaving other manufacturers trailing in their wake.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Red Bull's rear-view mirror – The title race will not be as simple as Vettel vs. Hamilton. A fired-up Fernando Alonso missed out on the 2012 crown by just three points, and the double world champion will be looking to challenge at the front of the grid given the improvements in his Ferrari following last season's design problems.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Five first-timers – Five rookies will be on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix, including Valtteri Bottas (pictured) who will be behind the wheel for Williams. Caterham drafted in Giedo van der Garde, while Esteban Gutierrez makes his debut for Sauber and Marussia boast an all-rookie line up of Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Burned rubber – Pirelli will serve as the official tire supplier in the final season of its three-year contract. The new tire is made of a softer rubber than its 2012 equivalent, with lap times expected to increase by up to half a second.

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Photos:F1: 2013 season preview

Grid shrinks – There will be 11 teams lining up for the first race in Melbourne following the collapse of Spanish outfit HRT after three seasons without scoring a point.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – "Get him (Webber) out of the way, he is too slow," Sebastian Vettel disdainfully remarked over team radio at last month's Malaysia Grand Prix. The German was instructed not to challenge Webber, who was leading the race, but ignored orders and overtook the Australian with ten laps remaining. Vettel's tactics caused much consternation on social media and reopened the debate about the practicality of team orders in Formula 1.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – Vettel leads Webber during the Malaysia Grand Prix in Sepang in March. It's not the first time team orders have caused rifts between drivers.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – Awkward scenes on the podium at the 2010 German Grand Prix after Felipe Massa (left) surrendered the lead to his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso when the team told him that the Spaniard had the faster car.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – Rubens Barrichello (right) looks far from content as teammate Michael Schumacher has a quiet word on the podium following the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, which the German controversially won. The Brazilian, who spent six years as Schumacher's deputy at Ferrari, says he empathizes with Webber's position at Red Bull.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – Barrichello led the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix before ceding position to his Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher. Team orders were banned the following season.

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – "El Maestro" Juan Manuel Fangio (left) and Stirling Moss engaged in discussion following the 1957 Italian grand Prix at Monza, which the Englishman won. The pair were teammates at Mercedes in 1955. "The team has always been the most important thing," says Moss. "Once you're with a company you really have to do what they tell you to. It's a professional business with very big money, which it wasn't (when I drove). Drivers are being paid like film stars now."

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Photos:Team orders: needless or necessary?

Team orders: needless or necessary? – Moss (left) trails behind Fangio at the Italian Grand Prix in 1956. "I'm glad I raced when I did and not now because the pleasure was so much more then and the racing certainly was purer," Moss says.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Monisha Kaltenborn, seen here at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in July 2011, is the first woman to become CEO and team principal of a Formula 1 team.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Kaltenborn said she grew up watching Grand Prix as a child but never imagined it would become her career.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – "The first time I came to the factory and saw what it takes to make a Formula 1 car, it became a passion," said Kaltenborn.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Even before taking over as team principal, Kaltenborn played a key trackside role in Grand Prix races.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Kaltenborn said she is not disturbed by the use of "grid girls", seen here at the 2011 Korean Grand Prix, in Formula 1. "I think girls are prettier to look at than if you had men in those roles," she said.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Kaltenborn, seen here at a school in Delhi, India, is involved in the FIA's F1 In Schools project, which teaches students about all roles in motorsport from engineering to marketing to finance.

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Photos:Monisha Kaltenborn

Monisha Kaltenborn – Kaltenborn with Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. Kobayashi competed for Sauber from 2010 to 2012, but has now been replaced by Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg.

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"That is a challenge I am relishing. I have worked closely with Mercedes-Benz for almost 20 years and deeply admire the company's phenomenal commitment to Formula One. I look forward to much success together in the years ahead."

Lowe adds to a wealth of experience in the Mercedes hierarchy. Brawn oversaw all seven of Michael Schumacher's world titles in addition to Jenson Button's in 2009.